Nail and nail string



jan. 2, w23. 1,440,579

J. A. BROGAN.

NAIL AND NAIL STRnNs. FILED MAR. 22 1920. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Jan. 2, 1923. l 1,440,579

\ J A. BRGAN.

NAIL AND NAIL STRING. FILED MAR. 22 1920V 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented dan. 2, i923.

TATS

i tf. i

'v JAMES A. BROGAN, OF LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS, lASSIGN'OR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OE PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

NAIL AND NAIL STRING.

Application filed March 22, 1920. Serial No. 367,752.

To all whom t may concern: 1

Be it known that I, JAMES A.' BRoGAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lawrence, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain lmprovements in Nails and Nail Strings, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying'drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indica-ting like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the manufacture of nails, and an object of the invention is to devise an improved nail and nail string adapted for use in attaching together pieces of shoe' stock.

Heretofore, it has been customary to make the nail strings which have been used in the manufacture or repair of shoes from relatively thin, flat, metal strips of substantially uniform width and thickness by removing portions of the strips at equally spaced intervals so as to reduce the width of the strips at such points. The parts of such a strip Where 4its width is reduced constitute the Shanks of the nails in the nail string,l

and the intermediate, unreduced portions of the strip constitute the heads of the nails. The production of a nail string of such a character is attended by great waste, inasmuch as the portions removed from the strip make up a. large part of the strip. Moreover, the strips are rolled very hard, in con sequence of which it is impracticable to form sharp points on' the nails when they are sev.. ered from the nail string by a nailing machine. On the contrary, the nails are,usually, if not invariably, sheared off of the -nail string, with the result that their entering ends are blunt so that they do not readily penetrate the work.

Further objects of this inventiton are to provide a nail string which can be manufactured cheaply. for the reason, among others, that its production will involve no substantial loss of nail stock, and which will be so constructed as to enable the nails when they are severed from the stringl to be formed at their points in such a manner as to cause them readily to penetrate the Work and to clinch easily. Vith this end in View, an important feature of the invention resides in the provision of a nail string consisting of a strip of nail stock having the heads of the lnails in the string formed by bends comprising'p'ortions extending outwardly from the strip and joined at their outer ends. In the present instance of the invention, the portions of the bends are folded upon each other 1n -planes transverse to the 4length of the strlp. ItA is recognized, however` that the bends constituting lthe heads of the nails may be formed in other ways without del parting from the principles'of the invention. The nailstring of this invention is preferably made from wire, for example, iron or brass, soft enough to enable itto be bent or cut readily, and portions may be removed from the Wire above the heads of the nailsl Acordingly, be shaped in a manner to facilitate the insertion of the nails into the Work.

A further feature of the invention resides in the novel form of'the nails of which the nail string is composed.;

In thel drawings, Fig. l is a perspective view of a nail string according to the invention;

F ig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of al nail severed from the nail string;

Figs. 3 and 4 are elevations taken from View points at 90o to one another of a nail severed from the nail string of Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of a nail severed from the nail string.

As illustrated, the nail string consists of a strip of 'nail stock in the form of a Wire of substantially circular cross-section. The Wire is bent or folded upon itself at intervals as indicated at 2 to constitutethe heads of the nails in the nail string. The heads 2 of the nails preferably' extend from one side only of the nail string and on the same side of the string. Each of the nail heads 2 comprises portions 4 and 6 extending transthan the ldistanceA between their teimi'nal' ing the Shanks of the nails are disposed in a plane substantially at right angles to the direction of projectlon of the nall heads 2 from the string.

ln order to assist in forming points ongthe Vnails when they are severed from the nail string, their Shanks are cut away contiguous to the heads of the adjacent nails as indicated at 14. 'The depth of the cut is gradually increased toward thepoint where the entering end of the nail shank joins the head of the adjacent nail, at which point the cut is of a j depth greater than half the diameter of the wire, so that theventering ends of the lnails are reduced in all their cross-sectional dimensions to enable them more readily to penetratethe work. It is desirable that as much material as practicable be left in the heads 2 of the nails and that the upper surfaces of the heads shall be smooth.

from the wire only to a point substantially opposite from the surface 18. of the portion 6 of the head of the adjacent nail. A shoulder 16 is thus formed substantially in line with the surface 18 which constitutes the upper surface of the head of the nail. lt is usual'in the operation of string nailing machines to sever nails from a nail string b v a cutter which operates along the upper surfaces of the heads of the nails. Consequently, when a nail is severed from the improved nail string, the line of cut will register with the` shoulder 16 so that a plane surface 20 constituted by the shoulder 16 and the line of cut will be formed on the head` of the nail..

The free end of the portion 6 of the nail head is rounded on its bottom and sides as indicated 'at 22, and the nail is fneferablyformed when it is severed from the r`nail `string with oppositely beveled surfacesl 24 A tively soft material from which the nail string. is made and enables the nail to be easily driven. Moreover, the formation-of the enterin i to clinch i properly, and inasmuch as the point of the nail is about equally beveled on opposite sides of its apex, it can be driven straight without dicu ty.

As shown, the portion A6 of the head 2 of the nail is disposed somewhat above the por"` tion 4. When the nail is driven, however, the main impact of the driver is borne by the portion 6 which is thereby embedded in.

AccordingIy, it is deemedfpreferable in shaping the entering end of a nall to remove material I 30 'their outer ends.

bent in end of the nail rendersV it easy Leader@ the work to substantially ythe same extent as the portion ll. Nailing machines of the type Yin Awhich it is contemplated that the imdriver of a diameter'substantially equal to that of the passage. Consequently, the end of the driver will engage other portions of the head of the nail as well as the plane surface s 20. rllhe surface 20, however, tends ,to bringV about better driving engagement of the driver with the head of the nail than would otherwise be obtained. rlhe arrangementof the portions 4 and Got the head of the nail close together' enables the. head to sustain vthe impact of the driver' without such displacement -of its parts a's would impair its holding power inthe work.

Having thus described mv invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates'isz- 1. A nail string consistingvof a strip of nail Stoch and having the headset. the nails in the string constituted 'by folds in the strip disposed Vat spaced intervals along the strip and each made up of portions bent into approximate parallelism to onel another.

2. A nail string consisting of a strip of nail stock and having the heads of the nails in the string constituted by. portions extending outwardly from the strip and joined at 3. A nail string consisting of wire and having the heads of the nailsin the string constituted by curved loops disposed at offset from the main body of the strip and i planes transverse to the length of the strip.

y5. A nail string consisting of wire and having the heads of the nails in the string constituted by folds disposed at spaced intervals along the wire and curved in planes transverse to the length ofthe wire.

f6. A nail string consisting of w'ire and having the heads of the nails in the string constituted by loops curved in planes transverse tothe length of the wire and spaced from each other by portions of the Wire which constitute the Shanks of the nails when the areV severed fromrthe nail string and which are cut away adjacent to the loops so as to assist in forming points on the entering ends of the nails. V-

7. A nail string consisting of a strip of nail stock having bends formed therein at spaced intervals along the stock each preseating a terminal angle between it and the fastening stock at eachside pf the bend and the strip between the bendsconstituting the Shanks of the nails in the string and said lparts' bein cut away on one side of the ends to orm points on the shanks of the nails and shoulders on the strip disposed substantially in the planes of the upper` surfaces of the heads of the nails.

9. A nail comprising a shank and a head 4havin portions disposed at an acute angle to eac other and ina plane transverse to the axis of the shank. n

10. A nail having its shank consisting of a substantially straight section of wire and..

itshead constituted by a flattened substantially closed single loop in the wire adapted to sustain the impact of the driver of a vnailing machine. l

11. A nail having its shank consisting of a substantially straight section of a strip of nail stock and having its head constituted by a part of the strip having aY single bend upon itself in a plane transverse to the shank with the sides of the bend immediately adjacent one another firmly to support engagement with a driver.

12. A nail having itsv shank consisting of a substantially straight section ofv a strip of nail stock and havin its head constituted by a portion of the strlp offset' from4 one side of the shank and a second portion connected to the outer end of the first-mentioned portion and disposed substantially parallel to. the rst-mentioned portion, said second por-` tion having its other end yalined substantially'with the side of the' nail shank opposite from the side from which the irst-mentioned portion of the head projects.

13. A nail comprising a shank and having its head constituted by a portion offset from 4theshank and having a second portion angularly related thereto, the free end of which is upturned and formed with a substantially plane surface disposed transversely of the axis of the nail shank.

MIA nail formed from aI strip of nail.

stock substantially circular in 'cross-section and comprising a shank and a head constil tuted by a part of the strip bent transversely of the shank and having its free end upturned and pla-ne surface. if

15. A nail of a type adapted to be formed from -a string and comprising, in combination, a pointed shank ard a head formed from a `continuous piece of wire, the head consisting of a doubled portion of the wire bent transversely of the shank with the free end of the wire unobstructed, so thatwhen in the string it may join the shank of an adjacent nail. j

)in testimony whereof l have signed my namato -this speoitilcation.

"1 "ES A. BROGAN.'

provided l withI substantially l 

